Assignment 20a - Growing Your Social Capital

Assignment 20a

Growing Your Social Capital

Individual #1

1.     Dr Kelly Aissen is a therapist in Gainesville who specializes in addiction. She studied here at UF and has been in practice for more than 10 years, experiencing a wide variety of cases linking to substance abuse and addiction.

2.     I am filling in the domain expert in the industry slot because she is a qualified therapist who knows what incorporates an addiction and how one can go by and cure or solve it, which is the premise of my service.

3.     I came up with the idea of finding someone who knew about dealing with addictions and did some research on some potential therapists here in Gainesville who could help me. I sent her a simple email telling her the premise of what I was doing and whether she would be interested in helping me.

4.     The exchange was done over email. She gave me valuable information about what the roots of most addictions were and how to solve them. The return expectation would be to send her customers who, after a period of time at my service, are still having difficulties in quitting.

5.     Including this individual allows me to gain valuable experience and expertise when dealing with addictions. This will help me optimize the service I am constructing.

Individual #2

1.     Michael Dees is the New Scooters for less manager here in Gainesville. He’s been manager there for 7 years, taking care of almost all aspects of the store’s administration.

2.     I am filling in the expert on the market because he is a manager for a scooter store whose primary customers are of the same market segment as mine, college age individuals. He has experience marketing to individuals their age.

3.     I thought about the people who would know best what college individuals are looking for when buying products or services. Many people at the university use scooters so I thought that someone has to be behind all the marketing for them. So, I gave Michael a call and left him a message with my number for him to call back at.

4.     He explained to me what he feels was the best way to market your product or service to college age individuals and what techniques he’s used over the years. In exchange, he I would allow him to post advertisements at my service location for individuals to see.

5.     Having Michael in my network allows me to better understand what college students get attracted to in marketing and which techniques would be best to use. It optimizes the marketing strategies.

Individual #3

1.     David Dickey is the Chief Supply Chain Officer of Juul, one of the leading vape and nicotine manufacturers in the US. He’s worked on the supply chain for over 25 years in a variety of industries.

2.     I am filling in the supplier of the industry because he is the manager of the chain supply  of all nicotine products that I will be trying to fight against meaning that he is part of the problem but also can pose some benefits to the operation.

3.     Although he may not seem keen on the business idea of preventing individuals from vaping, I thought he may be able to give some advice and knowledge behind Juul and what they plan on doing. I sent him an email explaining everything to see how he felt about the business and to see whether there could be a collaboration since they know the products are being sanctioned by the FDA.

4.     He told me that although I’d be removing clients from his business, he believes it is a good service I am providing. He said people abuse their products for something it isn’t supposed to be used for which has led to such addictions. He said he would help command the supply in Gainesville and localize it in specific locations, in exchange that we say the service is backed by the Juul company and research.

5.     This greatly expanded my network and field of control. It adds legitimacy and help to the service. Helps me control the supply of vape and Juul products to my customers.

This experience has really helped me realize how important networking really is. It showed me that you can really help your business grow if you know the right people who are willing to help you. I’ll make sure to keep in mind what type of people would be able to help me out next time I network. It did differ from those in the past because before I never was looking for or to give any favors. I was just trying to meet people in the same field as me.